Rescuers Treat Dozens in Syria Chemical Attack

A civil defense member breathes through an oxygen mask after what rescue workers described as a gas attack in the town of Khan Sheikhoun in rebel-held Idlib, Syria on April 4, 2017.

The attack on Khan Sheikhoun killed dozens of people on Tuesday, leaving residents gasping for breath and convulsing in the streets and overcrowded hospitals. 

People lay on the ground in a still image from a social media video said to be in the town of Khan Sheikhoun on April 4.

The death toll from a suspected chemical attack on a northern Syrian town rose to 83 on Wednesday as activists and rescue workers found more terrified survivors hiding in shelters near the site of the harrowing assault, one of the deadliest in Syria's civil war.

A man carries a dead child in Khan Sheikhoun on April 4.

Videos from the scene showed volunteer medics using fire hoses to wash the chemicals from victims' bodies. Haunting images of lifeless children piled in heaps reflected the magnitude of the attack, which was reminiscent of a 2013 chemical assault that left hundreds dead and was the worst in the country's ruinous six-year conflict.

A Syrian man receives treatment at a small hospital in the town of Maaret al-Noman, located near Khan Sheikhun, on April 4.

The Damascus and Moscow governments denied they were behind the attack. A Russian Defense Ministry statement later said the toxic agents were released when a Syrian airstrike hit a rebel arsenal.

A hospital room in Khan Sheikhun is in ruins following the suspected attack on April 4.

An unconscious Syrian child receives treatment at a hospital in Khan Sheikhun on April 4.

Syrian doctors said a combination of toxic gases is suspected to have been released during the airstrikes, causing the high death toll and severe symptoms.

Syrian children receive treatment at a small hospital in the town of Maaret al-Noman on April 4.

The World Health Organization said victims of the attack appear to show symptoms consistent with exposure to a nerve agent.

A Syrian man is taken by civil defense workers to a small hospital in the town of Maaret al-Noman on April 4.

Syria's government denied it carried out any chemical attack. But early on Wednesday, Russia, a major ally of the Syrian government, alleged a Syrian airstrike hit a rebel arsenal, releasing the toxic agents.

Turkish experts evacuate a victim of the suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria's Idlib province, at a local hospital in Reyhanli, Turkey on April 4.

A Syrian child receives treatment at a field hospital in Saraqib on April 4.

A man breathes through an oxygen mask as another one receives treatment in Khan Sheikhoun on April 4.

A Syrian child receives treatment at a small hospital in Maaret al-Noman on April 4.

Bodies lie in the parking area of a hospital in Khan Sheikhun on April 4.

A crater is seen at the site of an airstrike in Khan Sheikhoun on April 4.

A man carries a dead child in Khan Sheikhoun on April 4.

Read more: Russia Blames Syria Gassing on Leak From Rebel Chemical Cache